USC Marathon Team
Wow. 26.2 miles. No matter how easy those 18 milers may be, and how much you can convince yourself that it's only another 8.2 miles (easy enough to tough out, right?), there really is no preparing for the full 26.2.!
My marathon experience was filled with pain, sunburn, more "FIGHT
ON!!" and "WOOHOO!!" yelling then I've ever done before (yes, somehow
I managed to yell and holler), lots of victory signs (which resulted
in a very sore arm the next day) and tons of smiles. I was lucky
enough to have my kick between miles 16 and 22. I fed off the energy
of the other runners and those watching. With my name on my bib I had
so many people cheering for me and of course I always cheered back. I
did get the occasional, "Go Lazy!" to which I just chuckled. It's
funny that someone would mistake me for lazy while I'm running a
marathon. They must have misread my bib. At least, let's hope so!
Oh, and never before have I looked so forward to throwing water on myself. Every time I ran through a hose or grabbed a cup of water just to splash it in my face, I gave out a little yelp from the shock of the cold water. I think my shirt and shorts were dripping water for at least 3/4 of the entire race. And yet within 20 minutes of finishing my clothes were almost completely dry. That's how hot it was that day!
Then there was after the marathon. My roommate, our friend Matthew and I thought it would be a good idea to just take the bus home. Ha! No busses were running because of the road closures, so we were lucky enough to walk home. We made it just past the Staples center before I gave up and hitched us a ride.
Talk about being memorable. I thought I lost a toe nail (but thank goodness, didn't), I had a terribly painful sunburn, I couldn't eat for a few days, and it took me about a week to start running again.
In the end, this marathon was a huge achievement for me and I'm already looking forward to my next one!
Fight On!
Lacey